[mindcrime]

I'm not confident about this, but I suspect ..."

Totally agreed with this. I love that particular bit of phraseology. I use it all the time both in verbal and written forms. I can't be sure, but I suspect that it is a very useful phrase.

In my experience, it's a nice way to state something, but "soften" the statement a little so that it's less likely to invite challenge.

I also like the phrase "In my experience" for similar reasons. It's a way to state something, but it seems to evoke a challenge less often, because who can really challenge your lived experience?

For grins and giggles, I decided to search HN and see how often the "I suspect" phrase is used. Turns out it's quite a lot:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...